Product Information

Format: DRM Protected ePubVendor: Bethany HousePublication Date: 2008

ISBN: 9781441208149ISBN-13: 9781441208149Availability: In Stock

Publisher's Description

After Penny Sullivan witnesses a shocking crime, her world tips sideways. Suddenly things like getting groceries, mowing the grass, and returning phone calls are more than she can handle. But with her husband away at sea and her seven-year-old son depending on her, hiding in the closet isn't an option. Hoping to recover by the time her husband gets home, she picke up her trusty yellow notebook and formulates a restoration plan: Do one kind thing for another person every day. The results are sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and often brilliantly surprising...

Author Bio

Sharon Hinck is a wife and mother of four. She holds an M.A. in Communication from Regent University and spent ten years as the artistic director of a Christian performing arts group. She has also worked as a professional choreographer and classical ballet teacher. Now, she writes full-time and enjoys speaking at conferences, retreats, and church gatherings. She and her family live in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Publisher's Weekly

Hinck, a 2008 Christy finalist for visionary fiction, offers an especially grounded tale of sudden trauma and slow healing. Narrator Penny Sullivan witnesses a horrific crime shortly before her navy chaplain husband is deployed, so she is forced to cope alone with the psychological fallout from what she saw. Family issues from her past complicate her struggle and enhance its credibility. Strong Christian themes form a natural part of the narrative. Penny Sullivan's faith is shaken, and she wonders why God would appear to permit evil and whether her emotional turmoil can be healed. A supporting cast of characters, from a nosy neighbor to the busy faithful servant to the downtrodden who heads a local mission, adds quirk and richness. Hinck is a mother of four, and it shows in authentic details in her characterization of the narrator's worried, loving seven-year-old son who gets his first pet in some cute comic relief. Hinck has done her homework on post-traumatic stress syndrome, and is not afraid to show readers that challenges can deepen faith. (Oct.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

There is nothing like reading something that is out of your comfort zone.

When I first picked up this book, I really expected it to be written a certain way, what I found was a story that character was exposed and raw in her struggle. I found throughout the book, that I was constantly asking myself, if this was me, what would I have done? How would I have handled this or that? I think that's what books are supposed to do, ask yourself questions and be honest with the answers.

I believe that this book is not for everyone, it deals with some pretty dark stuff in places, but overall the book itself was well done.

Nothing really prepared me for the beautiful journey I embarked upon when I opened Stepping into Sunlight. After reading the misadventures of Becky Miller and the heroic travels of The Restorer, Sharon surprises us with a heroine who is in a deep dark struggle. Reading this novel is a journey of fear, depression, trauma, faith, humor, and love. This is a masterful novel about a woman finding herself again. Penny Sullivan suffers from PTSD after becoming the victim of a violent crime. And, she, like so many of us, is determined to fix herself on her own. With skill and a deep understanding of what victims go through, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, Sharon takes Penny and her readers through the darkness of PTSD into the light of dealing and healing. I laughed at the creative cast of characters we meet in the group therapy. I wanted to hug Penny's son Bryan for his insight and truth speaking to his mother, in a way only a child can do. I wanted to slap some sense into Penny's family for their lack of understanding of her condition. I wanted to kiss her brother, Alex, for being her hero when she needed him the most.And I saw me in the pages. Anyone who knows someone struggling through PTSD, depression, bi-polar, etc. could benefit from reading this book. In a way only Sharon Hinck can, she entertains you as she teaches and touches your heart. And somewhere along the way readers will learn and grow as Penny did. The truth of God who is always there, even when we fail to see Him, is evident on every page. There is an honesty in this book about what someone who suffers from PTSD must face from day to day, including the denial that help is needed. I once had a young person I worked with tell me she would never let herself get depressed. What many people don't realize is that depression is not usually a choice. Healing is, but making that choice takes time, patience, understanding, and love. I highly recommend this book.